Hunting down Grizzlies, 10 years later

Gary Kingston, Vancouver Sun11.03.2015

Three first-round draft choices, and what did Vancouver have to show for it in the end? Pictured in 1999, left to right: Shareef Abdur-Rahim (third overall, 1996) is now an assistant general manager with the Sacramento Kings; Bryant ‘Big Country’ Reeves (sixth overall, 1995) is now a cattle rancher near his hometown of Gans, Okla.; and Mike Bibby (second overall, 1998) plays for the Atlanta Hawks.

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VANCOUVER — We’re just a couple of months short of the 10-year anniversary of the Vancouver Grizzlies messy departure for the land of the blues, barbecue and Elvis. In fact it was this very week, a decade ago, that owner Michael Heisley was given NBA permission to move the not-so lovable losers to Memphis, Tenn.

In six mostly lamentable NBA seasons, 60-plus players wore the distinctive jersey with the fierce-looking bear and the swiping claws. And a good chunk of the young African-Americans in that group felt as if they’d fallen off the face of the Earth after being consigned to Vancouver. Or, at the very least, the Arctic wilderness.

Funnily enough, going underground appears to be what’s happened to many of them now. Although like Elvis, we bet they show up at a neighbourhood 7-Eleven every once in a while.

Now, we know where some of those ex-Grizzlies are. A handful are still prominent in the game — Mike Bibby as a point guard in Atlanta, Shareef Abdur-Rahim as the assistant general manager in Sacramento and Byron Scott as the poor sap charged with trying to coach the LeBron-less, hapless Cleveland Cavaliers.

And Michael Dickerson, one of the few players to fall in love with the city — he currently splits time between Vancouver and Seattle — has been a fixture at UBC Thunderbirds practices most of this season.

Some guys probably don’t want to be found. Benoit Benjamin, who owes half a million in child support, and counter-culture non-conformist Cherokee Parks, who probably spent more of his free time in Vancouver with local strippers than he did with teammates, spring to mind.

But guys like Eric Mobley, Chris Robinson, Michael Smith and Darrick Martin? Well, Google can only do so much.

We did, however, manage to track down a few for interviews.

• GRANT LONG

Signed as a free agent in September 1999, the power forward averaged 5.6 points and 4.8 rebounds in an injury-shortened first season and 6.0 ppg and 4.2 rpg in 2000-01.

The personable Long was one of the few players to embrace living in Vancouver. On a day off at his first training camp, which was held in Esquimalt, he took a float plane flight to Vancouver and hopped on the SkyTrain to Metrotown where he found a barber to handle his corn rows. He took his family up Grouse Mountain and to Whistler, spent a few hours one day watching the bald eagles at Brackendale and would often stroll Robson Street.

“If I was there 300 days, it rained 299 days,” cracked Long. “But outside of Miami, which drafted me and where I spent six seasons, Vancouver was still the best time I had in the NBA.”

“I still remember Vancouver had one of the best pizza places, Panagopoulos. Best pizza I’ve ever had, far and away.”

Long had always assumed he’d get into coaching, but after he retired in 2003 “all those same coaches who told me I’d be good at it and ‘I’ll have a position for you,’ suddenly didn’t have room. The door continually got shut in my face.”

He did some volunteer coaching at Eastern Michigan before getting a chance to do some studio work for regional Fox Sports broadcasts. When that gig ended in 2005, he tried to find other analyst work, but “there aren’t that many jobs. If guys don’t die off, you’re not getting in. In that business, you pretty much have to screw up on air for them to fire you.”

Then, on the same day in 2009, he got offered a job coaching in the NBA Development League and another as a TV analyst for Oklahoma City Thunder games. He took the latter and now is in his third year watching an up-and-coming young team that includes superstar Kevin Durant.

“I’ve got a great seat to watch arguably the NBA’s best player, the leading scorer. He’s going to be a Hall of Famer and I’m in on the ground floor. I’ll be able to say I saw him when he was young and bright.”

• BRENT PRICE

The point guard was part of that big three-team Steve Francis deal, coming to Vancouver from Houston in the summer of 1999 along with Othella Harrington, Michael Dickerson, Antoine Carr and draft picks in exchange for the pouting Grizzlies’ draft pick who wanted no part of living in Vancouver.

Injuries and differences with the coaching staff meant Price played just 41 games in 1999-2000 and just six in the Grizzlies final season in Vancouver.

“On the positive side, for my family, it was a great stop on the journey,” says Price, who lived in a rented home near Granville Island with his wife and three children. “We loved the city, getting to know the people. We met some neat folks we still exchange Christmas cards with. Went over to Vancouver Island, up to Whistler at All-Star break.”

From a basketball standpoint, however, it was tough for Price.

“I was at the end of my career. I was beat up physically. My back was a mess ... and the team was in disarray from an administrative standpoint. I had three different owners and three different coaches in my two seasons.”

Today, Price lives in Enid, Okla., with his wife and four kids, aged 10, 11, 13 and 14. He has interests in an industrial chemical supply company and a hospice “and I’m kind of like the silent mayor of Enid. Anything that comes along, they seem to need to have me on the committee.”

He also sings in a gospel quartet called Sojourner that performs around the northwest part of Oklahoma and recently sang the national anthem at an Oklahoma City Thunder game.

• DOUG WEST

Traded to Vancouver in February 1998, from Minnesota after nine-and-a-half seasons with the Timberwolves, West was so traumatized at the thought of heading to another woeful expansion franchise that, in his words, “I stood at the bar and drank 17 Heinekens.”

He concedes he’ll never live that quote down, but says now that, “I just wasn’t mentally prepared to deal with it.”

Personal problems and injuries limited the shooting guard to just 67 games over the Grizzlies final three seasons. The ownership situation, the prospect of the team moving and the coaching changes — “in my 12 years in the NBA, I had nine coaches” — made it a difficult period for many of the players.

Despite initially balking at moving to Vancouver, West says now “it was a lovely place to live and anyone who asks me about it I always tell them it’s a beautiful city, a great city.”

But what about all those Grizzlies who chafed at living in Canada?

“You have to chalk that up to being young and ignorant and just not knowing. As you get older, people like myself and Grant, we understood what it was about ... and made the adjustments. It was different than being in the States, but it was beautiful, so was Vancouver Island.”

West retired after the 2000-01 season and began coaching high school basketball, both boys and girls. He coached women for one season at Duquesne University, then spent three seasons as a men’s assistant coach at his alma mater of Villanova University.

He’s currently looking for another high school job or a place in the NBA as an assistant coach or a scout. West is also working with the school district in his old hometown of Altoona, Pa., on a program called Project SOAR — Study, Overcome, Achieve and Reward. The program assists students who demonstrate the skills but lack the financial means to move beyond high school.

“It’s always good to help out your hometown.”

• BRYANT REEVES

The media-shy seven-foot centre, who was the Grizzlies’ first draft pick, and whose six-year, $61.8-million contract extension in 1997 was seen as one of then-GM Stu Jackson’s most egregious mistakes, couldn’t be nailed down for an interview.

But former teammate Price, who took part in a charity roast of the doughy Reeves in Tulsa a couple of years back, joked that “he’s not Big Country anymore, he’s Big Continent.” In a 2004 interview with the Tulsa World, Reeves conceded he was some 40 pounds over his playing weight of 290.

Price says Country is very content with his life as a cattle rancher on a 300-acre spread just outside tiny Gans, Okla., where he lives in a 15,000-square foot home with his wife, Amy, and three children — boys Treyton, 13, Trevor, 11, and daughter, Maddie, nine.

Reeves, who never played a game with the Memphis Grizzlies because of chronic back pain, retired midway through the 2001-02 season and got completely away from basketball. A few years later, he started showing up at games at his alma mater, Oklahoma State.

“I knew [basketball] was coming back eventually,” he told the Tulsa World. “It’s part of me. It’s part of my blood. I can’t leave it.”

• SHAREEF ABDUR-RAHIM

The Grizzlies’ one true star, the small forward played five seasons in Vancouver and 12 total in the NBA with stops in Atlanta, Portland and Sacramento. Over his career, which was cut short by bad knees, Abdur-Rahim averaged 18.1 ppg and 7.5 rpg. After spending two seasons as an assistant coach in Sacramento, he moved to the front office on Oct. 7, 2010 as assistant general manager. Since 2004, he has also funded “Reef House,” a facility on the outskirts of Atlanta that assists at-risk and underprivileged youth.

• GREG ANTHONY

Vancouver’s first pick in the expansion draft, the former New York Knick spent two seasons as the Grizzlies starting point guard. After retiring from the NBA in 2002, he worked as an analyst for ESPN and ABC’s NBA coverage. Since 2008, he has been a college basketball analyst for CBS.

• BENOIT BENJAMIN

The seven-foot centre, who was traded midway through Vancouver’s first season to make way for rookie Bryant Reeves, played for nine NBA teams, plus squads in Greece, Puerto Rico, Argentina and Lebanon. We’re not sure what he’s doing now, but in August of last year, a court in Monroe, La., ordered him to pay a whopping $517,200 in back child support payments.

• PETE CHILCUTT

Famous for playing basketball with just one kidney, the sweet-shooting 6-foot-10 forward suited up for 182 games between 1996-97 and 1998-99. His best season was 1997-98 when he averaged 4.9 ppg, 3.7 rpg and shot .415 from three-point range. He now teaches sixth grade math and sciences at Folsom Middle School in Folsom, Calif.

• BLUE EDWARDS

Edwards was the Grizzlies starting shooting guard for all 82 games in the club’s inaugural season, averaging 12.7 points and 4.2 rebounds. Started just 32 of 142 games over the next two seasons. The serial philanderer will probably be best remembered for the messy, three-year child-custody dispute with admitted “groupie” Kimberley Van de Perre, a Burnaby waitress, that exposed the sexually charged lifestyle of NBA players. In 2001, the Supreme Court of Canada overturned an Appeal Court ruling that had granted custody of Elijah to Edwards and his wife on the basis that the child would be better off in a black household. The custody dispute was the basis for a 2009 made-for-TV movie titled Playing for Keeps in Canada and What Color is Love? in the U.S. Edwards lives in North Carolina and does college basketball analysis on the radio program Give ‘n Go on ESPN Plus.

• OTHELLA HARRINGTON

A mostly unhappy camper in Vancouver — neither he nor his dogs liked the rain — Harrington averaged 13.1 points and 6.9 rebounds in 1999-2000. Traded midway through the following season to New York, he played in the NBA until the 2007-08 season. In early 2010 he tried out for a team in Iran, but did not stick. (Wait a minute: A guy who doesn’t like Vancouver willingly goes to Iran?)

• ANTONIO HARVEY

He played just 18 games in the Grizzlies’ inaugural season, but it’s hard to forget the 6-foot-11 Harvey’s dynamic, spring-loaded leaping ability. Unfortunately, he couldn’t play a lick. Currently a radio analyst on Portland Trail Blazers broadcasts.

• GEORGE LYNCH

Small forward played the 1996-97 and 1997-98 seasons, mostly as a backup to Abdur-Rahim. Famously complained to an American reporter that he had to shop in Blaine, Wash., to find the kind of potato chips he couldn’t get in Vancouver. Retired from the NBA in 2005 and became an assistant coach at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

• KEVIN PRITCHARD

Vancouver’s first player signing, the journeyman point guard was introduced at an over-the-top news conference at the YMCA in which he entered from behind a curtain on a stage decorated with trees. He never played a game in Vancouver after being cut in the pre-season. He went on to become an NBA scout, director of player personnel and interim coach before landing the job as Portland Trail Blazers general manager. He was fired on draft day last year. His autographed Grizzlies’ playing card is available on Sports.Memorabilia.com for $22.40.

• ROY ROGERS

The 22nd pick overall in 1996, Rogers played one season in Vancouver, averaging 6.5 points and 4.7 rebounds. He later had short stints in Boston, Toronto and Denver and overseas in Poland. He was an assistant coach in the NBA Development League and a scout for the New Jersey Nets before joining the Boston Celtics this season as an assistant coach.

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